I was going to ask this on Christianity.SE but it's not really a Christian Doctrine question; hope it fits here.

I was reading John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress where almost everyone is named for a virtue or a vice except the protagonists (Christian and Christiana). Were those names common at the time of Bunyan or was he the first to use them as a proper name?

Not sure that would make sense since Christian isn't an English name.
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ZoredacheJan 12 '12 at 19:50

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@Zor you mean it's not an English name since you think it was imported from Denmark almost a millennium before Bunyan? What give a name its national character anyway?
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Peter TurnerJan 13 '12 at 14:14

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Well, Christian Fletcher was English, and born in 1764.
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kiamlalunoJan 13 '12 at 16:38

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Uhm, no the name isn't natively Danish either. As that wikipedia article I linked to it is based on the Latin word Christianus (Christ follower). Given that the Roman Catholic was both widespread and performed a large portion of their services in Latin, it is unsurprising that the word was used, just like the names of many other biblical characters.
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ZoredacheJan 14 '12 at 3:29